SOUND MAP OF BUDAPEST

Participants will have the chance to learn about and support local initiatives, including the Sound Map of Budapest, the Protected Harbour and the On the Edge of the City – all of which are based in our district.

Title of the project 1. : SOUND MAP OF BUDAPEST

Background information about the organization and its project

An online platform created as a common project by three cross-media activists – one Serbian, one Polish, one Hungarian. It provides a space to present the sound maps of three cities – Budapest, Krakow and Bratislava. In all the three cities we have recruited volunteers and prepared them to carry out interviews, to use the sound-recording devices, and to add to and edit the webpage. The Budapest-team consists of 5 members: sociologist, architect, landscape-architect, cultural anthropologist and digital storyteller. Our project is being hosted by the DEMNET Foundation, and the Foundation will officially receive donations and support directed through the Ferencvaros Community Foundation.

Aim of the project

Through podcasts and sound-materials, our aim is to introduce the stories and initiatives of the people who live in Ferencváros, at the same times as relating an oral history of Ferencváros and accounts of some of the important and interesting parts of the city. Our ideas include testing out the value of a story slam program within the district. We believe that this project can make use of the most up to date channels of info-communications to display local values and diversity in a fresh and attractive form. This will help the local community in its democratic processes and will strengthen local identity. We would also like to focus on some of the more sensitive questions in the area, such as the situation of immigrants and refugees living in Ferencváros (starting with the Greek political refugees arriving during the 60’s and following on to more recent times).

Which problems does the project tackle?

Hungarian society is full of unspoken and unprocessed problems. While society is so divided, the different sides are too often ready to dehumanize one other. People easily work themselves up, and the various opposing groups do not listen to each other’s position and views. We’ve been looking for a tool that can enable us to bridge these differences, differences which can be in striking contrast but may be based more on our prejudices and presumptions instead of on real knowledge and understanding. We decided to dive into the real life of the city, inspired by the diversity of Ferencváros where we will collect the stories. We are confident that the people we will meet during this process will give a lot of themselves, both as individuals learning about and opening up to different perspectives, and to those who will listen to the recordings when they are made public.

What activities are planned?

We aim to develop the story-telling practices within the communities and help to strengthen collective memories. Other important aspects include introducing and popularizing the areas of the district and the initiatives of the local community, promoting community activism, initiating a dialogue about the different ways in which we can improve our city and create a space where all people would like to live. We plan to collect 40 audio and written records over a year, and to promote them widely. We will organize at least two live story slam programs in the spring/summer of 2017. If the level of financial support makes it possible, we would like to develop and test two mobile applications: one that anyone can use to conduct interviews and send them to us, and another one for English-speaking tourists to use while visiting the city.

How much support do you need as a minimum? How much support do you expect from Live Broadcast and how do you plan to use it?

300.000 HUF: 3 new audio-recorder and SD-cards 1 USB-flash of big capacity for the archives 2 story slam events